Walking with Treasure

One of Treasure's signature personality traits has been her spirited enthusiasm for her daily walks. "Walk" is the number one word in her vocabulary and we learned to use it honestly and sincerely because she had high expectations as she waited at the front door.

Being the dainty female that she is, I was often amused at her habit of "marking" certain areas of grass along our route. (I thought only boy dogs did that!) After a while my amusement would turn to impatience as her incessant marking delayed our mission and took her focus off my plans!

Well, it's amazing how a simple diagnosis of bladder cancer can turn my focus entirely off myself and onto every one of her stops to pee! I find myself savoring every attempt to mark because that means she is still one step ahead of the thing that will eventually kill her.

Our walks, which were always a great source of exercise and friendly chatter, are now precious moments to be stored away for remembering later. We'll take a little more time to visit with other walkers who are charmed by her bright eyes and friendly overtures. We'll stop and sniff the flowers along the way and maybe bark a little more at the dog behind the fence. And if she wants to stop and sit in the middle of the street for a while, so be it!

These will be my "Treasured moments."